Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits…
Less than traditional sausage gravy

Y’all.

Just.

Y’all. This might make some of the top ten of things I’ve ever made. Honest to gods. It’s not as good as the carnitas but it’s good enough I went “oh my god” with the first bite. Ahem.

So biscuits, I drew from this recipe since I’ve tried a number of ways and been comparing notes with an old teacherfriend of mine.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup butter or shortening cold
  • 1 cup milk or buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing (optional)

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
  • Grate your butter using a cheese grater and stir into the flour mixture OR cut butter into small pieces and use a pastry cutter to cut the fat into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal or sand.
  • Gradually pour in the buttermilk or milk, stirring until the dough just comes together.
  • Turn the dough out onto a clean countertop and form it into a ball.
  • Press the dough flat until it is 1-inch thick. Use a circle biscuit cutter or a drinking glass to cut out your biscuits. Combine leftover scraps and continue re-pressing and cutting until all dough is used.
  • Place cut biscuits on an un-greased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned. Brush the tops with melted butter, if desired.

Notes

PRO TIPS:

  • Keep your butter or shortening as cold as possible. Place it into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before using in the recipe for extra flaky results. 
  • Handle the dough with your hands as little as possible. 
  • Work quickly to keep your dough cold. If you need to, pop the formed biscuits into the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes to chill before baking. 

I actually used milk, because I’m too lazy to make buttermilk or buy any. I also want to try frying some of the leftovers. I did stick them, once formed, in the fridge for 15 minutes, and grating the butter made a huuuuge difference in flakiness. Doing that 5ever now. I did not brush the top with butter.

Sausage gravy I’ve actually never made, so I did a few compare and contrast recipes and bastardized this one for my own nefarious purposes.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound uncooked breakfast sausage
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • biscuits I used canned, but you can use frozen or homemade as well!
  • chives
  • red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Bake biscuits according to package directions.
  • In a large skillet, break up the ground sausage.
  • Sprinkle with a teaspoon of pepper and cook until brown.
  • Reduce heat and sprinkle flour over sausage; stir to coat.
  • Slowly pour in whole milk and stir until thick.
  • Remove from heat; sprinkle red pepper flakes and chives over top. Spoon over fresh biscuits.
  • Garnish with chives and red pepper flakes.

So like. I did not have a whole pound of breakfast sausage, and what I had were links. So we substituted by adding two cheddar kielbasa as well. I also diced some onion real fine to add into this (sweet yellow onion ftw), and the rest of some nice sharp cheddar. I also added a metric fuckton of black pepper, and let it reduce and cook real slow.

Gotta say, I’m a fan and I’m not real…into the biscuits and gravy thing usually